How long does it take for body image to catch up with body?

This is a great question. I’m going to have to think about it since it’s a bit late and I feel that there’s a lot of good “meat” here.

I am 55 and not well. I still have it in my mind that I am a slim, curvy , sexy woman. Then I get dressed in tent clothes and see myself in a mirror and it’s a hit in the face every time.

How long does it take to go back to the past and rearrange the events that gave you the body image you have?

I don’t know if therapy can do this. Maybe affirmations can. Otherwise, I think it’s best to learn that body image is a kind of illusion. Since it is an illusion, we really don’t have to pay much, if any attention to it. That doesn’t stop the illusion from catching us unawares from time to time. But I think it is an illusion to believe the illusion will go away. There is no amount of earth and concrete and steel that can keep a ghost out.

This is a great question. Weight is what first came to mind when I initially read the question. I have been the same weight for years, and I am shocked every time I see myself in a photo. I just don’t think I look that heavy. I am not fat, but I am fatter than I think of myself.

When it comes to disfigurement or surgeries; well, I have never had any drastic changes to my body. But, when I think about more trivial things like changing my hair color, or having a zit on my face, I forget it about it very quickly. When I have blond hair I am still a brunette in my mind, because I am naturally a brunette, and usually am one. I almost never well on an imperfection I find in my outward appearance. Now, having said that I once did have a part of me cut away for medical reasons, a small part that is not easily seen, and would not be seen if I was wearing clothing, and I was VERY upset for a few days. I felt I had mutilated myself. It was much different than having a scar, missing a piece of me was more traumatic than I expected. So I can only imagine if it was something obvious to others, but more importantly than that, the loss itself. As I think about it more related to others or vanity…I would not feel I was being judged or not accepted, it is more that I would not want to call attention to myself. The one exception might be being very overweight, I think that is still judged harshly.

I have a similar sensation when I get a new tattoo.

Even though I see my naked body everyday, I never consciously notice my tattoos. They are just part of my body. But when I get a new tattoo the change to my body is so obvious, and I notice it all the time. Eventually, that new tattoo just becomes another part of me and I rarely notice it.

In the beginning I thought this was similar to your question, but now I’m not so sure. Sorry.

Since I can only remember having a realistic view of my body, I don’t see how the two can be different. I’ve had plastic surgery, and I don’t see my body as it was before because it’s not how it was before.

I’ve been losing a ton of weight this past year. I’m no longer “Plus” size, wear normal jeans, and have guys hit on me. In my mind, I’m still kind of fat. I am working on losing a little more and than maintaining. My ideal body is Venus from birth of Venus by Botticelli. Yum.

I’ll get there someday.

Honestly, I don’t think it ever really catches up.

Just when you have come to grips with the changes puberty brings…wham…you have the changes pregnancy wreaks…then about the time you come to grips with that…old age slithers in and sends your backside to the floor.

I know the older I get the more bemused I feel when I look at some heretofore recognizable part of my body with a complete lack of recognition.

I’d like to think I’ll have time to become completely physically familiar with myself once before I die but I’m not counting on it :)

About half an hour. No, but really, are you asking about the point we when we feel comfortable and content with our bodies? There can be considerable body distortion issues or there could be minor ones. Different individuals, I think, are at different points along that continuum. But once the mind and body achieve some type of wholenesss…y’know, that yin/yang stuff, there would be no issues. It seems to relate to one’s degree of self-actualization, individuation, or whatever you choose to call it. It is a misconception of self that can be corrected through different paths if one is motivated.

I need more information. Can you further describe your naked run through the room?

puts on soft music

Sometimes it never does, it all depends on when you are going to change your though process. It’s kinda like, when does the alcohol stop chasing the alcoholic.

I really don’t know. It’s a great question and something I have thought a lot about myself. I have been thin almost my entire adult life, though I was a fat child and did gain and lose my “freshman 15” when I was in college. But… 4 or so years ago I gained about 45–50 pounds (Note: Menopause isn’t necessarily pretty, it’s not for wimps and most importantly, a half-gallon of ice cream is not a single serving.) But I still don’t perceive myself as being as big as I am. I catch a passing glance of my body in the mirror or a reflection in a window and I think: OMG! What the hell? Is that me? I really am fat! Or when I go shopping and look at the jeans that are the size I wear now and think: God, these are huge! Am I really that big? Well, yes I am, I must be, because these are the size that fit me. It’s a very weird and disturbing disconnect. I hate having gained all the weight but it’s very weird that it still comes as a big surprise to me every time I see my reflection or shop for jeans.

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. I think people spend way too much on looks. That is the society we live in though. I guess when you start to focus on who you are as a whole and on the inside you fret less about what you look like. One can never guess if one is truly beautiful to look at because what someone thinks is ugly another adores. So work on getting your Gray matter aligned and your battle is way more than half over.

@tinyfaery No, that’s pretty much exactly along the lines I’m thinking of. They didn’t occur to me at the time I posted the Q, but there are loads more examples – tattoos, hair coloring, piercings, sex reassignment surgery, intersex people born chromosomally male who have an enzyme deficiency which partially prevents their bodies from “reading” testosterone (they develop as female until puberty, and thenceforth as male), people with apotemnophilia…I’m sure there’s more, too.

@filmfann lol4rl!

@all great answers, keep em coming! I’m very interested in the trend beginning to form in this little survey – that body image lags considerably behind body for almost everyone (Miss Facade being the notable exception).

@wildpotato I wonder if there is a generalization we can make about when our body image starts to solidify? What I mean is I kind of stuck with my 25 year old image of me for many years. I would say not until I was 40 did I really start to permanently change and except I am older, heavier, and simply look more mature.

Interestingly, I think children adjust very quickly. They change so much, so significantly in short periods of time, and yet I think they are very aware of themselves typically.

@JLeslie Wow, great point! I hadn’t thought about body image from the child-perspective yet. You’re right, children seem much more able to be pre-reflectively aware of the way their body really is at any given point of growth. That’s amazing! I wonder if children ever suffer from phantom limb syndrome, or if the malleability of the young mind can overcome the BID? (body image disorder, which is what not only anorexia and weight-gain disorders fall under, but also [what are traditionally thought of asmore neurologically-based things like phantom limb pain and apotemnophilia) Though children do experience apotemnophilia – the guy in that article I linked to says he knew he wanted his leg cut off at a certain point at about the age of 10, I believe. He first noticed his BID when he experienced a sudden impulse to stick his leg out in front of an oncoming schoolbus. He said his first thought was, “How could I ever explain this to anyone?”

Thank you for articulating what I was going for here – a generalization about when body image solidifies. Or even whether it ossifies at all, or just lags a number of years behind reality. From a few of these answers, it seems like people tend to keep their image from their 25-year-old body in mind. It would be fascinating if that turns out to be a common trend.

@wildpotato Maybe it has to do psychologically with looking forward to the changes or dreading them.

Kids are often uncomfortable in their bodies. That’s why children can be awkward, not know how to hold themselves, etc. I grew breasts early and it took a long time for me to feel like I was a person with breasts. Just sayin’.

@tinyfaery How long does it take when you are a kid? You said it took a long time for you to feel like you were a person breasts. A year? Two years? I think adults have a harder time seeing themselves accurately, I think the lag in realty and body image is much longer. What do you think? realize I am not inlcuding people who actually have dismorphia

Years. Especially because I was a c cup by the age of 12. Plus, I was a dancer and the breasts really got in my way. I think I was maybe 16 when I actually felt my breasts were part of my body.

@tinyfaery Makes sense. So, it sounds like you were not happy about the breasts. I wonder if that is part of it like I mentioned above? Whether the change is desired or not.

Breasts turned me into a sexual object way too young. I HATED them, now I love them. Women pay thousands of dollars to have breasts like mine.

I used to have a condition called Body Dysmorphic Disorder for 33 years. (I’m 35 now). So for 33 years, my body never caught up with my body image. The two things that changed this for me are:
1. going to the doctor and having my hormones balanced.
2. getting a web cam and sharing videos of myself doing what I love the most: Singing!

Now I have a more solid knowledge of what my body is physically, even though at times (rarely now), I lose the ability to remember it.

Here is a link about BDD

I don’t think you ever really catch up because your body changes with time.
As a female you usually deal with how you look during puberty.
Then if your pregnant you deal with that change, and then with the changes that pregnancy created. Looser skin, scars, and rounder hips.
Then you work out get pregnant again and there are more changes.
Then you hit your 30’s and your body changes in other ways.
Your boobs aren’t as bouncy or as full.
Your skin is starting to change.
In your 40’s, your waist begins to thicken maybe, and other muscles start to sag a little.
Your skin isn’t as smooth.
It goes on and on.
So unless you discovered the fountain of youth, there is no way to maintain exactly as your are decade to decade.
Luckily after 40 your vision starts to go bad so you don’t really see every little difference, unless you put your reading glasses on. LOL